A school in Caversham which is too poor to replace an asbestos-filled building will be helped by a Labour government that will reverse cuts to school funding.

That was the message from Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayer, who visited Caversham Primary School, a school which the National Union of Teachers (NUT) claim stands to lose £183,000 when the Government’s new funding formula comes in.

However, Reading Borough Council insists the roof of the school dining room is safe and added urgent work would be carried out if that changed.

Mrs Rayner visited the school in Hemdean Road, which has an outstanding Ofsted rating, to meet the children and speak to teachers and governors about the funding issues.

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Mrs Rayner told getreading it was the pupils who would suffer most from the cuts.

She said: "Unfortunately, this school has already been hit by the Government's cuts and parents have had to contribute

"They've got a fantastic new library in the playground which has been paid for by parents, on top of the money that parents already contribute through taxation to the state education system and quite frankly I don’' think the state education system should be run like that.

"It should be on the ability of the child to learn, not on the ability of the child's parents to pay.

"If we're coming out of Europe, and you want to reduce immigration, we're going to have to skill up our young people to do those jobs, and this government has been found wanting.

"If you leave schools crumbling and leave schools like this one without the resources they require then shame on you because that's the job of government to give these children the start in life they need."

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Clarifying Mrs Rayner's comment about asbestos, a council spokesman said: "The roof of the dining room at Caversham Primary School is constructed using corrugated cement roof panels and fascia sheets.

"Asbestos surveys are carried out on site annually with the last one taking place in March.

"Asbestos containing materials pose no health risk if they remain undisturbed in a managed situation. Of course, if the materials did become a health and safety risk they would be dealt with as a matter of urgency."

Education in Reading

He said: "In the past months, I have taken school representatives to Westminster to meet with Schools Minister Nick Gibb to set out their issues over funding.

"And I was therefore delighted that in July a £2.6 billion boost to core school funding was announced from the Government.

"As we all know, Labour's promises on education funding are pretty worthless, before the General Election, Jeremy Corbyn said he would look to wipe out student debt but straight after the election, has reneged on this promise."

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However, Reading East’s Labour MP Matt Rodda joined Mrs Rayner at the school and said: "There are many schools around the town that are badly affected, one estimate is that it's £450 per pupil that the average child is losing in Caversham Primary School.

"There's a very direct impact, some schools have lost teachers, some are reducing extra curricular activities and it's having a very dramatic impact on schools."